NOTES ON COLLECTING, ETC. 183 



solitary ash tree was completely killed above a height of four feet from 

 the ground. The normal hours of emergence are more extended than 

 I thought last year, and may be set down as from ii a.m. to 4 p.m. 

 The moths began to appear on June 24th, but, till July 4th, they were 

 only found on the small trees. It may be that the heating effect of the 

 sun's rays takes longer to penetrate the large trees. On July 7th, my 

 friend, Mr. A. J. Hodges, spent a leisure hour in cutting a lilac in his 

 garden to pieces, and, as a result, found several larvae still feeding, 

 and by no means fully grown. This would seem to point to the pro- 

 bability that pyr/na, like Cossus lignipcrda, remains more than one year 

 in the larval state. I do not find, however, any suggestion of this in 

 any of the authorities at my command. 



I have not observed any striking variations, but a want of symmetry 

 between the markings of the two sides is noticed in all female 

 specimens. In size, the males range from an inch and five-eighths to 

 two inches and one-eighth, and the females from two inches and one- 

 eighth to two inches and seven-eighths. In the females, the metallic 

 spots appear clear and bold, as if printed on the surface ; in the males, 

 all not situated on the margins of the wing, appear as if covered by a 

 film. The males are much more uniform in marking than the females, 

 and, as a rule, have the spots quite separate from each other. In 

 a few specimens the large spots on the basal half of the inner margin 

 of the fore wings are more or less united, but in none of my specimens 

 is there any coalescence of spots in any other part of the wing. In the 

 females, one notices a greater or less freedom from spots of a space on 

 the fore wings between the sub-costal and median nervures, just 

 beyond the middle of the wing ; in some specimens the spots are so 

 few here as to give the appearance of a white patch, whilst in others the 

 space is hardly marked off from the rest of the wing. The size of the 

 spots varies considerably in different specimens, as also does the amount 

 of their coalescence. There is generally more or less union between 

 the large spots on the basal half of the inner margin, in a few to such 

 an extent as to give rise to a longitudinal streak in that situation. 

 More rarely, the spots above the basal half of the median nervure 

 coalesce and form a longitudinal streak. — F. J. Buckell, 32 Canonbury 

 Square. August 26th, 1890. 



Hybernating larvae. — Will not some well-informed and experienced 

 collectors commence a series of notes on the best way of getting the 

 various hybernating larvae through the winter ? It would be very helpful 

 to less experienced members. For example, I have beaten eight 

 Trichiura craice-gi larvye out of sallows. Will they do best in a sleeve 

 on the plant, or in a cage with dry bents and leaf mould, or how ? 



Many larvce, like Bombyx rubi, are perfectly easy to manage in the 

 right way, and almost impossible in any other way. 



If some one must make a beginning, I am quite willing to do so — 

 Bombyx rubi. Plant a root of heather out of doors, knock the bottom 

 out of a cheese crate, put it round the heather and cover it with 

 perforated zinc. My larvce were under snow for a week. They came 

 up in March, and seemed pleased to have new shoots of heather to sit 

 on and spin among, but they ate nothing more. 



Toxocampa pastiniim. When the purple vetch is done, leave the 



